Windows Phone 8.1 – Some useful links for developing Windows “Universal Apps”

P.S. 24/09/2015 – There is a newer port specific to Programming for Windows 10: useful links .

See first what’s new in Windows Phone 8.1 for end-users and for developers [What’s next for Windows Phone 8 developers: what are my options; Windows Phone 8.1: le novità per gli sviluppatori (M. Pagani)].

To install the latest Windows 8.1 Update see here. To install the latest Windows Phone 8.1 Update see here and here.

Windows Phone 8 apps use XAML to define their UI, but in their XAML they use UI types from a different namespace than those used in the XAML of Windows Store apps. On the contrary, Windows Phone 8.1 adopts the same XAML UI framework as Windows Store apps.

Windows Runtime (WinRT) support on Windows Phone 8.1 converges with Windows 8.1. The release brings a complete Windows Runtime API to the platform, including Windows Runtime XAML support.

In the following there are some useful link to develop new apps for the (unified) Windows Store.

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Design

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/windows/apps/hh465424.aspx
http://dev.windows.com/en-us/design
Presentation: Practical Design for Windows Developers (Build 2014/2-502)
Channel9: Event Build_2014 (all sessions)
Remote Tools for Visual Studio 2013 to test our app on a device where it is not possible to have Visual Studio installed (e.g. tablet)
Tips and tricks for using XAML controls in your universal Windows apps
Migrating your Windows Phone 8 app to a Windows Runtime XAML app
Implementing Platform Specific Code in Universal Windows Apps with MVVMLight and Dependency Injection
Windows 8.1 and Windows 8.1 Phone Convergence: Part 1: Controls; Part2: App Lifecycle

Using a Grid Helper image to Design WP Apps (MetroGridHelper); Universal MetroGridHelper (https://github.com/igrali/Universal-MetroGridHelper)
AppBar Symbols for BimapIcon
EasingFunctions for animations
ThemeAnimations for system pre-defined animations
ThemeTransitions
Tips and tricks for using XAML controls in your universal Windows apps
The tile template catalog (Windows Runtime apps)
Options for publishing Windows Phone beta apps and testing in-app purchase

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Forum

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SDK & Training Kits

Dev Center – Get Started
Windows API reference for Windows Runtime apps
Windows Phone SDK
Windows Phone 8.1 Emulators (adds six emulator images to an existing installation of Visual Studio 2013)
Windows Phone 8 Training Kit [Silverlight]
Windows Phone Dev Center
Sviluppo di app (XAML) / Developing apps (XAML) [Windows RT ]
WindowsPhone.com

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Tools

xsd2Code community edition .net class generator from XSD schema (xsd2code++)
Windows Phone IsoStoreSpy (a cool WP8.1 + WP8 Isolated Storage Explorer)
Windows Phone Power Tools (for WP 8.1) – Windows Phone Developer Power Tools (from Visual Studio: Tools -> Windows Phone 8.1 -> Developer Power Tools)
GitHub Windows (Windows client to easy clone/fork GitHub projects)
Windows Phone Toolkit (Silverlight)
WinRT XAML Toolkit (e.g. WinRT XAML Toolkit for Windows Phone 8.1 ; WinRT XAML Toolkit – Calendar Control for Windows Phone 8.1; WinRT XAML Toolkit – Data Visualization Controls for Windows Phone 8.1; WinRT XAML Toolkit – Gauge Control for Windows Phone 8.1; WinRT XAML Toolkit – Debugging Tools for Windows Phone 8.1)
Migrating your Windows Phone 8 app to a Windows Runtime XAML app [from Windows Phone 8 app (Silverlight) to Windows Phone Store apps (Windows RT) => feature mapping from Windows Phone 8 to Windows Phone 8.1]
NuGet: central package repository used by all package authors and consumers.

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Samples

Windows Store app samples (Windows Phone 8.1 samples; Windows 8.1 Store app samples ; Universal Windows app samples … Windows Store app flat navigation); Xaml Universal application covering new Windows Phone 8.1 Xaml Controls sample
WP Code samples (ex. Nokia site for dev); Developer Nokia
Rate My App
How to share a BottomAppBar with multiple pages in WP 8.1 (Windows Store app flat navigation, start to finish sample)
Custom behaviors creation (e.g. to handle StatusBar and ProgressIndicator in Windows Phone 8.1 apps [sample]; StatusBar *; ProgressIndicator ** [sample])
Windows Phone 8.1 Development for Absolute Beginners (Full Lesson Plan pdf ; Full Sample Code; code; * )
WP8.1 JumpStart Demos
Strategies for sharing XAML code in Universal Apps (MSDN Stéphanie Hertrich blog1; MSDN Stéphanie Hertrich blog2)
See also samples from the books listed in the following section.

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Books:

Windows Phone 8 Development Succinctly – FREE (pdf / Kindle) + More Windows 8.1 Succinctly – FREE ©2015 (Matteo Pagani) (pdf / Kindle)
Windows Store Apps Succinctly ©2013 (John Garland) – FREE (pdf / Kindle)
Sviluppare universal app per Windows Phone e Windows con XAML e C# (Author: Matteo Pagani): samples
Sviluppare Universal App per Windows e Windows Phone – Con XAML e C# (Authors : Daniele Bochicchio, Cristian Civera, Marco De Sanctis, Alessio Leoncini, Marco Leoncini, Stefano Mostarda): samples
Programming the Windows Runtime by Example: A Comprehensive Guide to WinRT with Examples in C# and XAML (Authors: Jeremy Likness , John Garland) (free chapter: networking): samples
Unit Testing Succinctly (Marc Clifton)

Other free ebooks could be found here:

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Relevant Microsoft Virtual Accademy courses (pre-requisite): C# and XAML

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XAML (Extensible Application Markup Language)

XAML Deep Dive for Windows & Windows Phone Apps Jump Start
XAML for Windows Phone 8 (Silverlight) ; XAML Controls (8.1)
Part 3: Introduction to XAML /Part 4: Introduction to XAML – Continued (from Windows Store apps for Absolute Beginners with C#)
I nuovi controlli e le novità di XAML in Windows 8.1 : presentazione (10/12/2013 -Visual Studio 2013 Live); articolo
Controlli (XAML con C#/C++/VB)

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Universal App

As it is said in Dev Center site relating to new features in WP 8.1, Windows Phone 8.1 introduce un importante cambiamento nell’ecosistema degli sviluppatori per Windows Phone. In questa versione si realizza la convergenza di Windows Phone con la piattaforma per app di Windows Store in una singola piattaforma per sviluppatori che esegue gli stessi tipi di app, ovvero le app di Windows Runtime.

Windows Phone 8.1 is built on the Windows Runtime (WinRT) rather than Silverlight.

Developing world-ready apps in XAML (part 1; part 2)
API reference for Windows Runtime apps
Build universal Windows apps that target Windows and Windows Phone
Walkthrough: Managing Universal Windows Projects
Real world WP development (slides)
Build Universal Apps for the Windows Platform
Reuse Code Assets with Universal Windows Apps
Strategies for sharing XAML code in Universal Apps (MSDN Stéphanie Hertrich blog1; MSDN Stéphanie Hertrich blog2)
Sharing code across platforms

Siete pronti a Windows 10? Sì, se sviluppate Universal App!

http://media.aspitalia.com/events/WPDay2014-Universal-App.media

Have a look to trends (Windows and Windows Phone Store Trends – September 2014 Update) and to new WP 8.1 features (What’s New in Windows Phone 8.1).
See also: What’s next for Windows Phone 8 developers (July 21, 2014) (what the Windows Phone 8.1 release means for you: simple Q&A that can help you decide what you want to do next).

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Official documentation:

Sviluppo di app di Windows Runtime (per iniziare)
Build universal Windows apps that target Windows and Windows Phone
Building universal Windows apps for all Windows devices
Windows Phone 8.1 samples (this sample pack includes all the app code examples developed and updated for Windows Phone 8.1, including app code examples created using any of the universal app templates available in Microsoft Visual Studio)
Universal Windows app samples (this sample pack includes the app code examples developed and updated using one of the universal app templates available in Microsoft Visual Studio. Each solution of a universal app code example is structured so the code example can run on both Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1)
Windows 8.1 Store app samples